


Me Before Your Eyes

by BeneaththeHalo



Series: Courage Magic Strength [24]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Multi, Nudism, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 12:46:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2192358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeneaththeHalo/pseuds/BeneaththeHalo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin and Gwaine are part of a nudist colony, and Arthur is a lost hiker. Arthur's refusing to take off his clothes, despite Merlin and Gwaine's insistence. Maybe, just maybe, Arthur has a very good reason for not wanting them to see what's under his shirt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Me Before Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Day #24- Shy

Examining his map thoroughly for what was perhaps the hundredth time that hour, Arthur Pendragon finally admitted he was lost. He didn't know how it had happened; he'd hiked plenty of times before, down tracks he'd never been down, and hadn't gotten lost once. Well, apparently there really was a first time for everything.

Morgana had warned him about this. She'd _told_ him not to go out on this path, told him the stories about hikers who had been lost on the mountains for days, but Arthur hadn't listened. He'd been too arrogant, had too much of an ego, and he was certain he'd be able to hike this area alone without getting lost.

Oh, how wrong he had been.

Arthur had no idea how long he'd been out there now, nor how far away from civilisation he was. All he knew was that he hadn't seen any sign of another human being besides himself (because he knew he'd passed this point before) for a very long time. He may have been a seasoned hiker, very experienced, but he was beginning to panic. He'd only packed enough supplies for one day, maybe two if he was lucky. He wouldn't last out here for very long. Arthur had twisted his ankle about an hour earlier, too, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could walk on it.

Arthur pressed a hand to his side, trying to stop that dull ache he'd become all to used to, when he could've sworn he heard voices on the other side of a range of trees. "Hello?" he called out. "Is someone there? Can you help me?"

There was silence, then, and Arthur was sure he'd imagined the noise. A throb of pain in his ankle caused Arthur to cry out and fall to his knees, unable to bear his own weight anymore. He heard the voices again, and figures came through the trees towards Arthur. He had just enough sentence to register that it was two people, and they were both _completely naked_ , before the pain in his ankle became too much and everything went black.

***

 _Pain._ That was the first thing Arthur felt when he woke up- pain in his ankle, and that dull ache in his side he'd become so used to now. His next thought was the realisation that he was indoors, in some sort of cabin, and the two naked people were standing over him, looking rather concerned.

Arthur eased himself into a sitting position, looking at the two strangers warily. They were both men, he realised, one tall and skinny and pale who looked like he'd filled out only recently, and the other shorter and well built, with long hair and a charismatic smile.

"Where am I?" Arthur asked. "And who are you?"

"I'm Merlin, and this is my boyfriend, Gwaine," said the taller man. "We found you in pain on the path, and then you passed out. And who are you?"

"My name’s Arthur, and I twisted my ankle," said Arthur. "And there's a wound on my side I got recently that has been aching for weeks. But you didn't answer my question. Where am I? And why are you naked?"

"That's two questions," Merlin pointed out. "But, luckily, they both have the same answer. This is a nudist colony. Everyone's naked."

"You brought me to a _nudist colony_?" said Arthur, stunned. He held his jacket to his chest, as if afraid it would be taken off him. "Why?"

"Because we _live_ here," said Gwaine simply. "There are quite a few of us. You can look out the window if you don't believe me."

Arthur glanced at Merlin and Gwaine, studiously avoiding looking down, before deciding to actually look outside. Sure enough, there were a number of people walking around, and none of them were wearing any clothes at all. “I didn’t know there was anything like this _out_ here,” Arthur said.

“Very few people do,” said Gwaine. “We kinda prefer it that way. Less people intruding.”

“Sorry,” Arthur muttered, looking down at his bruised and swollen ankle. He wouldn’t be walking on it for a while.

“No, don’t be,” said Merlin. “I mean technically, we brought _you_ here. I hope you don’t mind, but we had one of the other residents make sure you’re okay, just so we knew whether we’d have to take you to hospital or not…”

“It’s fine,” said Arthur, before a thought hit him. “Wait. You didn’t call my sister did you? Morgana?”

“We didn’t call anyone,” Merlin promised.

Arthur let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god,” he breathed. “She’d never let me hear the end of this. All of this. Not that there’s anything wrong with belonging to a nudist colony,” Arthur added quickly. “She’s just my older sister, so…”

“I understand,” said Gwaine. “I have an older sister, too. Except she’s a nasty old witch. What I wouldn’t give for her to see where I live now.” He turned then to examine Arthur, looking him up and down with curiosity and something that almost looked like… hunger. “We’re not going to make you take your clothes off, considering it wasn’t exactly your choice to come here. But feel welcome to actually take them off, if you want. We certainly won’t mind.” Gwaine smiled at Arthur then, and Merlin joined him.

Arthur knew Merlin and Gwaine wouldn’t mind seeing him naked at all, and he knew it had nothing to do with seeing people naked all the time, and _everything_ to do with Arthur. And, Arthur had to admit, he did find both men rather good-looking. They were both toned, one more well-built than the other, but both completely confident in themselves. They were gorgeous in different ways, but gorgeous all the same. It wasn’t them Arthur was worried about though.

It was himself.

Suddenly, Arthur was feeling incredibly self-conscious, and he looked away from Merlin and Gwaine again. “I… I can’t,” he muttered. “Trust me, you won’t like what you see.” His hand rested on his side, where his scar was. It had already scared away his ex-girlfriend, Vivian. And he may have only just met Gwaine and Merlin, but there was something about them… he didn’t want to scare them away too.

“Whatever it is, Arthur, it isn’t going to scare us off,” Merlin promised. He sat down on the bed beside Arthur, resting a hand on his thigh, rubbing a thumb soothingly up and down. “Trust me. I’m sure I’ve seen worse.”

Arthur could feel the heat of Merlin’s body pressed against his scar, almost… soothing it. He sighed, his hands toying with the edge of his shirt. Gwaine knelt down beside the bed, placing a strong, comforting hand on top of Arthur’s. “We’re not going to flinch, or be grossed out,” Gwaine said. “You’ll be surprised at the things we’ve seen here.”

“Okay,” said Arthur. “Okay.” Slowly, hesitantly, Arthur lifted up his shirt, revealing a large, still-red scar all the way up his left side. It was probably more of a wound than a scar, still only a few weeks old, sustained in a car accident. Arthur looked up, to find Merlin and Gwaine looking at him. “It’s okay. You can tell me to leave, now. I can call my sister, she can come and get me.”

Instead of doing what Arthur thought they would do, telling him to leave, Merlin reached out and touched Arthur’s wound, running his fingers down it gently. The wound tingled where Merlin’s fingers had been, but this wasn’t a feeling of pain. Not at all.

“Beautiful,” Merlin whispered, leaning in and pressing his lips to Arthur’s bare chest. “You are beautiful.”

“He’s not wrong,” Gwaine agreed, kissing Arthur’s other side. “You are beautiful, Arthur.” And somehow, Arthur found himself believing them.

“Can I… can I stay, for a while?” Arthur asked, closing his eyes and letting Merlin and Gwaine touch him, their fingers all over his skin. “I need to get away, anyway. I’ll tell my sister I’m staying with a friend, or something.”

“Of course you can stay,” said Merlin, and he pressed his lips to Arthur’s in a quick, tender kiss. Before Arthur could pull him back in, Merlin added, “On one condition. Take off the rest of your clothes.”


End file.
